


Serendipity

by Bereus



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Academy Era, Awkward Romance, Drabble, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Implied Relationships, Lore - Freeform, M/M, Mentioned Sothis (Fire Emblem), One Shot, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Romance, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 08:47:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23968609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bereus/pseuds/Bereus
Summary: The weight of a hand was what woke you up.The owner of said hand jostled you slightly, encouraging you to open your eyes. You shifted to face them, slowly cracking open one eyelid and gazing up, a scowl adorned itself on your face.Leaning close to your face was none other than your house leader, Claude Von Riegan.or Claude forces you to hike with him to an enchanted lake in the middle of the night and some flirting ensues.
Relationships: Claude von Riegan & Reader, Claude von Riegan/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 129





	Serendipity

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally going to be drawn out into a lengthy slow burn revolving around the Reader and Claude's relationship before and after the timeskip, but I'm too impatient so here's a one shot lol.

The weight of a hand was what woke you up.

The owner of said hand jostled you slightly, encouraging you to open your eyes. You shifted to face them, slowly cracking open one eyelid and gazing up, a scowl adorned itself on your face. 

Leaning close to your face was none other than your house leader, Claude Von Riegan. A smirk spread across his face when he saw your eyes open.

“What do you want, Claude?” You grumbled out, voice still thick with sleep. 

Claude raised a finger to his lips before motioning for you to get up. “Come on. You’ve got to see this.”

“Why? What scheme have you concocted now.” You questioned, voice lowering to a whisper.

“I can’t tell you. It’ll ruin the surprise.” He replied, a teasily lilt in his voice.

Instead of complying, you smooshed your face back into your pillow, still half asleep. A part of you wanted to ignore him and go back to bed. Your bed was warm, and soft. And didn’t ask unreasonable things of you unlike some people…

You let out a muffled complaint when Claude shook your form impatiently, your fingers tightening their iron grip on your blanket as he attempted to rip it off your form. 

“Do you have any decency?” You whispered harshly as you turned to face him once more. 

In Claude’s attempt to wake you up, he’d gotten closer to your form, the two of you now nose to nose, his knee on your bed as he hovered over your form. His body warmth tangible through the thin sheets. You squeaked before inching back in your bed, fingers sewn into your blankets as the back of your head hit the headboard.

If Claude felt as embarrassed at the close proximity as you did, he made no inclination of it. Though you supposed that wasn’t all that surprising. It was hard to tell what he was thinking most of the time anyways.

“You won’t want to miss it.” He sang out once more, the two of you still way too close to comfort.

“Can’t it wait till tomorrow, or at least until any reasonable hour?” You whined.

Claude shook his head, before letting out a faux sigh. “Fine. Far be it me to enlighten you with a fascinating mystery only few will ever get to see.” He bemoaned before turning his back to you, pausing for a moment before looking back at you with a quirked eyebrow. 

Damn him.

You let out one more drawn out sigh before taking his hand and slowly getting out of the bed. You barely had time to slip on some shoes and fasten a cloak around your form before Claude was dragging you out the door, only slowing down to softly creep through the dormitory hallway with you.

As you both closed the large door’s that marked the dormitory, you were greeted by the crisp spring night. Warm wind passed over your forms, and crickets chirped in the night. Torch’s lined the monastery as the occasional Knight patrolled the area. Claude led you through their patrol patterns with ease as if he’d memorized their paths. A fact that didn’t surprise you as it was a well known secret among the Golden Deer that Claude often broke curfew. Though what he was doing out so late, none of you knew.

Claude looked around for a moment before leading you out of the Monastery and onto the gravel path that led to the town below.

The two of you walked for a while, the time passing over fifteen minutes before you grew bored of counting, and simply let yourself be led by the hand to your destination. Neither of you spoke as you were simply trying to stay awake while Claude was deep in thought. It was only when a light much too bright for the moon glinted through the foliage ahead that you perked up and wiped the sleep from your eyes. Hastening your steps to keep up with Claude.

Despite your earlier attitude, you couldn’t help but open your mouth in awe. Claude looked over at you once as a more genuine smile made its way onto his face. His eyes crinkling slightly at the edges the way they did when he was genuinely pleased. He never smiled like that at you before. It made his face look softer, younger. It made you catch your breath.

“Fascinating, huh?”

You nodded, flitting your stare back to the original object of fascination.

A small lake stood before you, ethereal light from the moon reflected off the water's surface as a beautiful golden hue swirled high in the air. 

“This lake is said to be blessed by the Goddess.” He started as he led the two of you closer to it’s waters. “While no accounts agree with each other on what the blessing is exactly, the water’s obviously been enchanted with magic like the one back at the monastery. Although, unlike the pond back at the monastery, this one glows consistently only at night. Perhaps it’s magic is enhanced under the moonlight? I haven’t figured out why that is yet.” He mused, his sentences devolving into a quiet mumble as Claude spoke to himself. His brows furrowed as he peered down at the lake, the bottom of his cloak dipping into the water.

“You’ve been here before?” You spoke as you grabbed the fabric and moved it out of the water, interrupting Claude’s rambling.

He looked up at you, face illuminated by the magic’s golden hue, his green eyes practically golden. “A few times now. It’s not too far away from the monastery, and it makes for a great napping spot.”

You bit your bottom lip in thought. 

“Do you actually think it’s blessed by the Goddess?”

Claude shrugged nonchalantly, acting the way he always did when religion was brought up. “Who knows? I wouldn’t put much stock in it.”

“Why not? It looks pretty blessed to me.” You attempted to lean over the surface of the water to see what hid in its depths, though the water was too dark to see anything beyond your reflection.

“Sure. Perhaps rarer fish than usual. But magic is a stronger contender than a blessing from some mythical deity.” He retorted.

You hummed in response. You wouldn’t call yourself the most devout follower of the Church of Seiros, but you figured it was better to keep your mouth shut than accidentally bring down the wrath of a Goddess on a mythical holy landmark.

The both of you stood there for a moment, simply enjoying the scene before you. You wrapped your arms around yourself under your cloak to stave off the chill that went down your spine, shuffling closer to Claude. 

“What were the blessing’s supposed to be?” You inquired, rubbing your chilled palms together to create friction as you shifted from one foot to the other in an attempt to stay warm.

“There wasn’t much information to find at the library. Most of it was in bard’s song’s, and oral storytelling isn’t the most reliable method.” He informed you. Making no protests when you squished against his side to soak up his body warmth.

“Well? What did they say?” You prodded. 

“Some claim dipping one’s whole body in it would grant them invulnerability. Skin hard as steel and impossible to break with any weapon. Other’s claim one sip would wash away the drinker’s memories, wiping them clean of their entire identity. Although, the most popular story said that if a couple went to the lake together at night, their fates will be intertwined forever.”

“Looking to test out a theory?” You teased.

A playful glint reflected off the lake’s light and into his eyes as he returned the smile. “If you’re up to it.”

You looked away from him and back at the pond, butterflies swarming in your stomach. You hadn’t expected that answer.

“...Fodlan sure loves it’s stories about fate huh? Makes one wonder if there's some merit to such thoughts.” You spoke, thinking about the legend of the Goddess Tower that had been circulating around the monastery for the last month.

“Who’s to say.” He said shortly. “Maybe the Goddess is more of a romantic than we originally thought.” He added with a small laugh.

Letting the conversation die out, Claude observed the lake, pulling out his notebook to write in as you attempted to stay awake by stargazing. Though with the lack of engagement, you inevitably began leaning on him, your face pushed into the back of his neck. The smell of pine pleasantly tickling your senses and lulling you further into a drowsy state. 

If you were more awake, you probably would’ve been embarrassed. But as it was, it was in the middle of the night, you were cold, and since Claude had dragged you out here, he could handle being embarrassed for a moment while you rested your eyes.

“You’re warm.” You sighed, before burying your face between his shoulder blades, soaking up the warmth from his body. 

You felt Claude freeze for a moment before you heard the sound of him shutting his book and tucking it away in a pouch on his side before he turned around to face you. A crooked smile on his face. 

“We should head back before you fall asleep and I end up carrying you back.” He said, amusement present in his voice.

“Ok.” You said with a yawn as you shuffled away from him to give him some personal space. “I had fun.”

“Oh? Hard to tell with you falling asleep standing. “ He teased as the two of you turned away from the lake and began making your way back to the monastery. 

You linked your hands together, swinging your joined hands high in the air. 

His hand tightened its grip on yours as the two of you emerged from the edge of the forest and onto the dirt path that led from the Monastery to the town. 

As the two of you made your way out of the forest, chatting idly, you passed a glance at him. The teasing lilt in his voice, the warmth of his hand linked with yours. It was hard to imagine how distant Claude had been at the beginning of the year. You couldn’t recall when the change had started, but as the school year had begun to draw to a close, he’d opened up, and you’d begun to feel as though the two of you had become closer. It wasn’t long into your interactions that you’d considered him a friend. 

But what did he think of you? 

You would often seek out his company, whether it be because you had a question about an upcoming mission or you simply wanted to be around him. It was you that mostly initiated your interactions. Making you worry that your presence was being viewed as nothing more than clingy.

_ But if he didn’t consider you something akin to a friend, why would he invite you in the middle of the night to stargaze at an enchanted lake _ , a small voice in the back of your head reminded you.

You bit your bottom lip as you glanced at your companion, a nonchalant expression was on his face as you both trekked through the woods. Claude never gave away what he was feeling, the same casual smile and demeanor always on his face. 

As if he felt you staring, he looked at you from the corner of his eyes, quirking an eyebrow in question. “Something on my face?”

You smiled in return on instinct. “Nah, sorry I’m just lost in thought.” Your eyes flickered from his own to his lips for a second.

You wanted to kiss him. 

A cold chill ran up your spine at the realization. You turned back to the path and swallowed the words that threatened to pop out of your mouth.

You didn’t know if you could stomach the rejection. So you didn’t say anything. Instead letting the two of you walk back in silence. 

Claude linked his hand with yours, fingers interlocking. The warmth reassured you. You squeezed his hand in return. 

“Now that you’re a little more awake, is there anywhere else you want to stop? There's still a few hours before daylight. It’d be a waste to ruin a perfect night.” He questioned as the two of you emerged from the forest and began walking on the trail, your footsteps crunching on the gravel below being the only sound heard.

You let out the breath you didn’t know you’d been holding and laughed. “More like it’s a perfect night to go back to bed.”

“And miss out on the stars? They’re more beautiful than usual tonight.” Claude’s breath was visible as he looked up at the night sky. 

Halting your footsteps, your hands linked together served as a connection between the two of you, you joined him in gazing up at the stars, picking out the constellations you’d learned about from other night adventures with Claude. You loved staring at the sky. It was open, uninhibited by the restraints of the people who lived on the ground below. 

A cool breeze blew past you both causing leaves on trees to rustle.

“I guess staying out a little longer wouldn’t hurt.” You gave in at last, your hand tightening it’s grasp on his as you turned your gaze away from the stars to Claude’s face. “Afterall, if you asked me, I would go anywhere with you, Claude.”

Claude ran a hand through his hair, a rare slightly flustered look on his face that quickly dissolved into a scowl when you laughed at the blush dusting his ears. Your chest was warm from laughter and you couldn’t quite mask the skip in your step as Claude pulled you back to the monastery, a small smile on both of your faces.

\---

You felt a smile crawl onto your face as you approached the pool of water, the golden hue drifting off it’s depths filling your chest with warmth at the nostalgia. 

“At least some things haven’t changed.” you commented to your companion.

Claude crouched down beside you, the light coming off the lake coating his face in a golden hue. A sight that filled you with a strong sense of deja vu.

He turned his gaze from the lake to you and offered a warm smile, one that reached his eyes, crinkling them at the corner. A sight you’d never get tired of. “I’m sure things have changed here. They just might not be as noticeable. For example.” He started, pointing at a nearby rock. “That moss  _ definitely  _ wasn’t there five years ago.”

You laughed and pushed his shoulder, ignoring the way his laugh rang out made butterflies flurries in your stomach. It was so free, like the wind. “Stop teasing me! You know what I meant.”

“I can’t help it! You’re too fun to tease.” He chimed before wrapping an arm around your shoulder, bringing you closer to his form. His beard scratched your forehead. But you could hear his voice rumbling in your chest so you didn’t complain. 

“Besides, change isn’t necessarily bad. Some things change for the better.” He said as the two of you locked eyes. An identical smile growing on both of your faces as you linked hands. 

“So. Did you ever figure out which tale was true about this place?” You asked, leaning your head on his shoulder as you both gazed at the glowing lake before you.

Claude tangled a hand through your hair, combing out the knots as he thought of his response. 

“Can’t say I did.”

“Maybe you’re missing part of the puzzle?” You questioned as you lifted your resting head off his shoulder, your fingers coming up to thread together on his shoulder as you rested your chin there. Staring up at Claude with a coy smile on your lips as you whispered in his ear. “I’m more than happy to help solve it, if you’d like.”

Claude turned his head, the two of you staring intently at the other for a moment before closing the gap and fusing each other’s lips together in a kiss.

And for once, you didn’t question your place with Claude. It was just you and him.

**Author's Note:**

> It's always intimidating writing after a work does really well haha. Thanks to everyone that kudo'd and reviewed "Down with the sickness." my first fic with Claude. He's fun but intimidating to write because he's so complex. I don't think I really do him justice. But I tried haha!
> 
> I'm writing a fic about Dimitri right now, not reader insert based (though I've written two of those for him and they'll never see the light of day just like the rest of my Claude fics lol.) 
> 
> If you got this far, thanks for reading. I really appreciate any comment's or kudo's I get. They're awesome motivators. Stay safe everyone.


End file.
